Alyson

The Reading List, Teenage Progheads and ‘Whole Lotta Love’

Well, it’s been over four years since I added a new page to this blog’s main menu, but today’s the day. It’s called Reading List and provides links to all the novels and comic books written by the ‘blogging buddies’ I’ve made since setting up this place. If you hop over there you’ll find: details of the novels and short stories written by Rol Hirst and Martin Pond; the compendium of Rock Docs written by Rick Ouellette, and; the most recent additions to my collection, the comic books. Other than purchasing the odd Buffyverse comic book for DD, this medium was new to me, but I really enjoyed Rol and Rob’s Department of the Peculiar series, the most recent editions made possible via Kickstarter.

A few weeks ago, the proprietor of another blog which can be found on my sidebar published his first comic book, and of course I bought a copy. As Rick is based in Massachusetts, the fee I paid for the comic didn’t even cover the postage, but he kindly sent it anyway. In return I said I would give it a plug on my blog.

As anyone who visits here regularly will know, I am no Proghead, but it really didn’t matter with this comic as the subject matter was universal. High school kids hanging out together and listening to music. It was set in the mid 1970s, so a period I was really familiar with, and although the issues they discuss were not relevant to us in the UK at the time (Nixon and Vietnam), we had our own issues, so not so different after all. Here is what I wrote on Rick’s blog (Reel and Rock) about it.

Hi Rick – The comic book arrived this week and I’ve just finished reading it. I loved it. The years you cover are so pivotal aren’t they, that sweet spot before you venture out into the world, when the most important things in your life are hanging out with your friends, listening to music, and fledgling relationships (with schoolwork and good grades thrown in of course). Life was not so different in my neck of the woods and I totally get how the whole Proghead thing came about. My husband’s older brother was very much into the same music, whereas we came of age just as punk had exploded, so got into that instead. Some very funny dialogue in there and of course the premonitions about the future were a masterstroke. Thanks so much for sending it out.

One of the many bands mentioned in the comic book was this one, Led Zeppelin. I don’t have much in my library by them, but I do have this, Whole Lotta Love from 1969. What Rick probably won’t realise, is that for much of it’s history, it was also the theme music for our weekly chart show Top of the Pops. Yep, whenever I hear that intro I’m back in my parents house and it’s 7.30pm on a Thursday evening.

Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin:

So, ‘What’s It All About’ – I hope you visit my new page and perhaps make a purchase ahead of Christmas. We’re going to have to be inventive this year with our choice of gifts, as many of the usual purchasing options might be closed to us. I’m glad I managed to plug Rick’s comic as I suffer the most awful guilt when I’m behind with such things. I have a couple of ‘guest posts’ pending too, but I’ll get onto them when this momentous 30 in 30 challenge is over, I promise.

Until next time….

Whole Lotta Love Lyrics
(Song by John Bonham/Willie Dixon/John Paul Jones/Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)

You need coolin’, baby, I’m not foolin’
I’m gonna send you back to schoolin’
Way down inside, honey, you need it
I’m gonna give you my love
I’m gonna give you my love

Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love

You’ve been learnin’, baby, I’ve been yearnin’
All them good times, baby, baby, I’ve been learnin’
Way, way down inside, honey, you need it
I’m gonna give you my love
I’m gonna give you my love

Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love

You’ve been coolin’, baby, I’ve been droolin’
All the good times baby I’ve been misusin’
Way, way down inside, I’m gonna give you my love
I’m gonna give you every inch of my love
Gonna give you my love

Yeah! All right! Let’s go

Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love
Want a whole lotta love

Way down inside… woman… you need… love

Shake for me, girl
I wanna be your backdoor man
Keep it coolin’, baby
Keep it coolin’, baby
Keep it coolin’, baby
Keep it coolin’, baby

The NaNoWriMo Challenge, Julie London and ‘November Twilight’

I’m going to attempt something new around here. For one month only, I’m going to set myself the challenge of becoming… A Daily Blogger. Argh, what am I doing to myself?

I’ve tried 7 posts in 7 days before, and succeeded, although the plan to make them shorter didn’t quite come off, so it was quite a task. This time I’ll be kinder to myself and probably use a few shortcuts. If you are a regular visitor, don’t feel any pressure to populate the comments boxes (although always nice), as this is really just a personal challenge tied in with my college course.

I’ve shared poems around here before from the NaPoWriMo (National Poetry Writing Month) challenge, but now it’s time for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and we’ve all been encouraged to join in. The idea is to throw down 1650 words per day for the whole of November, and by the end of it all you’ll have a novel. It will probably be rubbish, and just the seed of something to work on in the future, but for many writers it’s a wonderful wordy workout.

Of course I have no illusions about being a writer myself, I’m just an enthusiast who likes using this place as her web-diary, and as somewhere to share the music she has enjoyed over the years. I am never going to write a novel, as that’s just not my thing, but I’m hopeful the ‘essays’ I post around here could be turned into some sort of volume down the line. Something for the grandchildren, if I ever have any. (The way this pandemic is playing out, our single offspring are finding the dating game nigh impossible at the moment, so any future grandchildren might end up being of the virtual variety.)

So, in solidarity with some of my classmates, there will be something new here every day until the end of the month, always including a featured song. Hopefully I will end up with a few gems, but at this stage who knows, it might be an epic fail. I suppose that’s going to be the fun of it.

As today is the first day of November, and as I am a fan of Julie London, here is something liberated from Charity Chic’s blog last year, when he very kindly shared a song at the start of every month from her Calendar Girl album. The song for today is November Twilight.

November Twilight by Julie London:

Looking at the album cover, it does seem to fit the remit well, Julie sporting some very skimpy outfits indeed and not the kind of thing for a dark and dreich November night here in Scotland. Julie was of her time however and always oozed glamour, so in 1956 I imagine this went down well with her fanbase. She has appeared around here a couple of times before (link here) as I’ve always loved her sultry voice, especially when singing her signature song, Cry Me A River.

So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – I’ve ended up being too wordy already and it’s only day one of my challenge, but I will, by necessity I’m sure, have to ease up on the wordcount as the days go by. Thanks again to CC for sharing Julie’s wonderful album last year as we now have a go-to track for the start of every calendar month, should we need it. Looking at the first line of the song, it bears out what’s been happening around here this weekend – What with all the wind, the trees are looking very bare indeed, stripped of all those beautiful autumn colours.

As it looks as if it’s going to be another tough month for the country, I’ll try and make this a fun place to visit for the next 30 days. Always plenty of good music to share (it won’t always be from 1956) and I will avoid mentioning the pesky pandemic as much as possible. By the time Julie is ready to sing Warm In December (that Santa suit doesn’t look very warm at all), things might be a whole lot brighter.

Until next time….

November Twilight Lyrics
(Song by Pete King/Paul Francis Webster)

The branches of the trees are bare
The smell of burning leaves is in the air
November twilight steals across my heart

At five o’clock the streets are dark
Across the empty bandstand in the park
November twilight softly falls again

So still that you could hear a voice
If one were calling
So quiet that you could hear a tear
If one were falling

And April’s laughter steals once more
Across the dark pavilion of my heart
And then I miss you most
Miss you with the ache of long lost things
Of sunburnt hours and garden swings
When life was beautiful
And love was young and gay
November twilight must you stay?

The Sweet, ‘Blockbuster’ and A Domain Name That Can Never Be Mentioned!

I’ve only had to ‘take down’ one post since starting this blog and sadly it was one I was quite proud of. As it turns out, the domain name for this place is one quite a few other parties would like to get their hands on, as it reflects the name of their product or business. Back in 2016 I had also gone down that route before deciding it all sounded a bit too Dr Who-ish so changed tack. The post that caused objection used the domain name as a title, as it was going to kickstart a new series where I journeyed back in time via a magical jukebox (yes, an idea a 10-year-old might have come up with in retrospect, but I went there). The first spin of the dial, using a random generator no less, took me back to this date:

Year – 1973
Month – 2, i.e. February
Date – 14 (St Valentine’s Day!)

This year could not have been better for me, as it was the year I became a teenager, and also the year I became obsessed with pop music and chart rundowns (already written about here). Referring to the UK Singles Chart from the 14th Feb 1973, the act at the No. 1 spot was this one, glam-rock band the Sweet with their only chart-topper, Blockbuster.

Blockbuster by Sweet:

Since first writing that post (now trashed), it’s become apparent there was much love for the band Sweet back in the day and they are often mentioned in the various blogs I visit. Mr Medd over at Are We There Yet? has a whole category dedicated to them. It still amazes me, watching footage of the band perform, how they somehow manage to look macho whilst wearing so much gold lamé and glitter. Steve Priest, the band’s bassist, sadly died in June of this year aged only 72. He was the one who always got the spoken word lines in any song:

‘We just haven’t got a clue what to do‘

It was also Steve who wore the most outrageous outfits and unlike the other members of the band, was always ‘plastered in makeup’ (his words). He got quite miffed when it was cited Bowie set the bar when it came to glam costumes, because he was the first to wear hot pants on TOTP. It was hot water he got himself into however when he decided to sport a German helmet on the 1973 Christmas edition of the aforementioned show. Brian Connolly (he of the long blond, not ‘long black hair’) was a great singer, but it was Steve who brought personality to the band. Unlike Bowie he was not an innovator, or an artist, he was a bloke who wanted to be in a band and had a bloody good time doing it.

There are many tributes I still have to write for people from the world of music who have died this year, but we’ve all been pre-occupied with other life-changing stuff, so I’m a bit behind. Watching this footage of the Sweet from 1973 reminds me as ever of simpler times. There were still only three channels on telly and you all sat around watching the same shows as a family. We had no central heating when I was growing up (not that we were poor, it just wasn’t a thing yet), so in the month of February there was no chance of me being anywhere else except in front of our two bar electric fire (complete with feature faux fireplace) watching the box with my parents. With no social media to mess with your head, and the concept of helicopter parenting not having been invented yet, life was indeed ‘sweet’.

I have written about the Sweet around here before when I shoe-horned Little Willy and Hell Raiser into posts, so won’t go there again. I will end with another clip however, this time of the band performing Teenage Rampage from 1974, where yet again Steve makes his own unique contribution. Sweet were incredibly successful during those post-bubblegum pop, pre-hard rock years, but the lifestyle took its toll and now only Andy Scott of the classic line-up is still with us. I accidentally caught myself watching an interview with Brian ahead of his death in 1997, but wished I hadn’t gone there. Best to remember your teen idols as they were I think.

So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – Well I think I’ve gotten away with it this time and not mentioned the offending term that brought about the threat of legal action. I’ve still only mentioned one of the songs however that was written about in that original ‘magical jukebox’ journey, so hopefully I’ll be able to reinstate the others at some point, by stealth.

I wonder if anyone else has had a sticky situation where they’ve had a ‘take down notice’ or been threatened with legal action? I know that Feargal Sharkey‘s name used to strike fear (no pun intended) into many a music blogger’s heart, but maybe those days have gone. I’d love to hear from you, and as you know by now, I always reply.

Until next time….

Blockbuster Lyrics
(Song by Mike Chapman/Nicky Chinn)

Ahhh, Ahh Ahhh

You better beware, you better take care
You better watch out if you’ve got long black hair
He’ll come from behind, you’ll go out of your mind
You better not go, you never know what you’ll find

Ahh Ahh, Ahh Ahhh

Can’t look into his eyes, you’ll be surprised
If don’t know what going on behind his disguse
Nobody knows where Buster goes
He’ll steal your woman out from under your nose

Does anyone know the way, did we hear someone say
(We just haven’t got a clue what to do)
Does anyone know the way, there’s got to be a way
To Blockbuster

The cops are out, they’re running about
Don’t know if they’ll ever be able to blockbuster out
He’s gotta be caught, he’s gotta be taught
‘Cause he is more evil then anyone here ever thought

Does anybody know the way, did we hear someone say
(We just haven’t got a aho)
Does anybody know the way, there’s got to be a way
To Blockbuster

Does anybody know the way, did we hear someone say
(We just haven’t got a clue what to do)
Does anybody know the way, there’s got to be a way
To Blockbuster

Ahh Ahh, Ahh Ahh
Ahh Ahh, Ahh Ahh

Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster
Buster buster blockbuster

Awesome Mixtapes #2 – It’s Immaterial and ‘Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune)’

I’m having a bit of a wistful morning. For the last three years, my best friend and I have gone on a wee trip at this exact point in the annual calendar, during the Scottish ‘tattie holidays’. Over the years these trips have been documented here on the blog: Amsterdam in 2017; Belfast in 2018; and last year, Bergen.

I have just been revisiting my pictures from last year, and will share some of them here. We were incredibly lucky with the weather as it can be very wet in Norway during the month of October, but what with autumn in full swing, and blue skies, our first experience of a Nordic country was a really good one.

Bergen in Norway

Well, what a difference a year makes. I’ve not had a single night away from home all year so a song that came to mind when I was revisiting these pictures was this one, Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune) by It’s Immaterial. It was the first track on my favourite mixtape, which was written about here when I considered it as an idea for a new series. Somehow, Ariel from Argentina found that post, and got in touch recently to let me know he had put together a playlist on Spotify of all the songs on the IC2 mixtape. I will embed that playlist here in case you are a subscriber. I haven’t set eyes on IC for over 30 years and can’t help thinking he would find it amusing to find his cassette insert, written back in October 1986, on that platform.

Spotify Playlist courtesy of Ariel from Argentina

As for the song, it occurred to me I know nothing either of its backstory, or the band It’s Immaterial, so time to find out. Well it seems they come from Liverpool and were formed in 1980. Today’s featured song was the one they are best-known for but surprisingly it only reached No. 18 in the UK Singles Chart. I still remember it well so thought it had done better, but all down to the sheer number of hours spent listening to music back in those days I suppose. The song was originally recorded in Milwaukee with Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads, but the band were unhappy with it so returned to England to record a new version with producer Dave Bascombe. It seems the ‘Jim’ in the song’s title refers to Jim Lieber, a harmonica-player from a blues band they saw performing in a bar in Milwaukee. He was invited to record with them and they were so happy with his contribution, they credited him in the title.

Driving Away From Home by It’s Immaterial:

So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – I would like nothing more than to drive away from home at the moment (and not just to go to the supermarket or for a walk on the other side of town), but not easy to plan for with new restrictions coming in every day. Let’s hope there is a breakthrough soon and we all get to spread our wings a bit more in the not too distant future.

Until next time….

Driving Away From Home (Jim’s Tune)
(Song by John Campbell/John Whitehead)

Hey,
now just get in
And close the door
And put your foot down

You know, I like this suburb we’re going through
And I’ve been around here many times before
When I was young we were gonna move out this way
For the clean air, healthy, you know
Away from the factories and the smoke
I like that shop, too
You can get anything there

So just get in
And we’ll go for a ride

‘Cos we’ll go driving away from home
Thirty miles or more
And we’ll go moving away from home
Without a care

I’ll tell you what
Why don’t we cross the city limit
And head on down the M62
It’s only thirty nine miles
And forty five minutes to Manchester
And that’s my birth-place, you know

Driving away from home
Thirty miles or more
And we’ll go moving away from home
Without a care in the world

Driving away from home
Thirty miles or more
Yes, we’ll go moving away from home
Without a care

‘Angie Baby’, Living In A World Of Make-Belief – RIP Helen Reddy

I was saddened to hear of the death of Helen Reddy last week. I can’t pretend to have ever been a avid fan, but I seem to know a fair few of her songs pretty well, despite her only having had one chart entry here in the UK. I think she was one of those artists who appealed to a wide audience, so was probably a regular guest on light entertainment shows back in the 1970s.

I had always thought she was American, but it seems not. She was born in Melbourne, Australia to a showbusiness family but after winning a trip to New York in a talent contest in 1966, she decided to relocate there. After getting a record contract in 1971, she went on to have many hits in the US including three which reached the No. 1 spot – I Am Woman, Delta Dawn and today’s featured song, Angie Baby.

Angie Baby by Helen Reddy:

This song was the only one that made it into the UK Singles Chart, back in 1975, and despite coming from the ‘Easy Listening’ camp, it really isn’t an easy listen at all. As each verse goes by, the story becomes weirder and weirder. Although we start off commiserating with the girl in the song, who seems to have been one of life’s loners, by the end of it we have gone on a bit of a fantasy trip with her and the listener is left to decide what happens to the boy in the song for themselves. Alan O’Day, the song’s writer, meant for that to happen.

Looking back at it all these years later, it strikes me how much has changed. First of all, it’s clearly a song about a girl living with some kind of mental illness, and if written today, the lyrics just wouldn’t contain the same kind of language at all. ‘You’re a little touched you know, Angie baby.’

Also, although many young people are spending far too much time in their rooms at the moment because of the pandemic, if our house is anything to go by, they don’t seem to spend too much time listening to ‘the rock and roll radio’. The kind of radio I grew up with just doesn’t exist any more for young people, which makes me sad, as it certainly did offer up a level of companionship for the teenage me. I don’t remember ever reducing a boy to a soundwave however, which is one of the interpretations of the final verse. Who would it have been I wonder if I had? A teen idol from the days before we discovered ‘real boys’ probably, David Cassidy or Donny Osmond, and it would all have been quite chaste.

It wasn’t until I sat down to write this post that I discovered it was Helen Reddy who sang the song Candle On The Water from the Disney film Pete’s Dragon. This is a lesser-known film from that stable and one I can’t remember ever having watched. The song did however feature on a CD of Disney songs we had when DD was small, and as it was unfamiliar to me compared with the other more obvious inclusions on that disc, it was always the one I warmed to most when played on long car journeys. Thank you Helen for a beautiful song.

So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – I’ve been trying to write this post since last week but have sadly been suffering from blogger’s block. Life had been getting back to some semblance of normality for a while, but we are most definitely going backwards again, and it does drag you down.

I know I’m not alone in this, but the fact I’ve not had a single night away from home all year, is really starting to get me down too. We’ve hung on in the hope work would come in for Mr WIAA, and I might get guests for the holiday hideaway, but not much going on at all at the moment. Thank goodness for my college course where I meet virtually with my classmates once a week. Perhaps it’s because I see too much of Angie in all of us at the moment that I’ve found it hard to revisit the song and write about it – A bit too close to home and a bit of an anthem for our times, except with Netflix substituted for ‘the rock and roll radio’. If I’m struggling, I can only imagine how awful it must be for young people right now.

Until next time….

Angie Baby Lyrics
(Song by Alan O’Day)

You live your life in the songs you hear
On the rock and roll radio
And when a young girl doesn’t have any friends
That’s a really nice place to go
Folks hoping you’d turn out cool
But they had to take you out of school
You’re a little touched you know, Angie baby

Lovers appear in your room each night
And they whirl you across the floor
But they always seem to fade away
When your daddy taps on your door
Angie girl, are you all right
Tell the radio good-night
All alone once more, Angie baby

Angie baby, you’re a special lady
Living in a world of make-believe
Well, maybe

Stopping at her house is a neighbor boy
With evil on his mind
‘Cause he’s been peeking in Angie’s room
At night through the window blind
I see your folks have gone away
Would you dance with me today?
I’ll show you how to have a good time, Angie baby

When he walks in the room, he feels confused
Like he’s walked into a play
And the music’s so loud it spins him around
‘Til his soul has lost its way
And as she turns the volume down
He’s getting smaller with the sound
It seems to pull him off the ground
Toward the radio he’s bound
Never to be found

The headlines read that a boy disappeared
And everyone thinks he died
Except a crazy girl with a secret lover who
Keeps her satisfied
It’s so nice to be insane
No one asks you to explain
Radio by your side, Angie baby

Angie baby, you’re a special lady
Living in a world of make-believe
Well, maybe

Well, maybe (Angie baby, Angie baby)
Well, maybe (Angie baby, Angie baby)
(Angie baby, Angie baby, Angie baby, Angie baby)

Postscript:

As this was a rather downbeat post, here’s a picture to bring it back up again, of Peanut, the new addition to our family. We’ve not had a hamster in the house for 12 years so I’d forgotten what a racket they make on their wheel – all through the night – but he seems to have settled in well. Of course you might suspect I’ve gone a bit stir-crazy, and converted Mr WIAA into a hamster via a radio soundwave, but no, that would just be plain weird.

Well, maybe…

More From Laurel Canyon, Fiona Apple and ‘In My Room’

Thankfully I’ve managed to keep most of my pandemic related thoughts to myself around here of late. I’m all pandemicked-out, so instead have been enjoying writing about some new musical discoveries. Most of these discoveries have come about via telly, which I seem to have been watching an unhealthy amount of recently. It feels wrong, but my regular trips to the cinema/theatre are in abeyance, and trying to meet up with with friends is becoming a bit of a logistical nightmare. With the nights drawing in and the weather getting a tad colder, it’s quite comforting to curl up on the sofa with a cuppa and a full set of remotes – Hopefully I’ll not start morphing into a Maris Piper anytime soon.

Before the rules changed (yet again), I’d been regularly meeting up with my friend Eve, as we are working our way through The Affair, that award winning drama starring Ruth Wilson and Dominic West. Somehow I’d missed it when it aired first time around, but it had been mentioned in the comments boxes around here in relation to a particular song, so I got curious and thought I’d give it a whirl. I should have known from the title there would be many, many scenes of a sexual nature, and although I’m no prude, it can be a bit awkward watching such shenanigans with your ‘walking buddy’. Now that we can no longer meet indoors here in Scotland, my blushes will be spared for the foreseeable, but as we both intend to carry on watching it independently, we’ll still be able to discuss the latest twists and turns when we meet up for our weekly walk outdoors. Such times.

And here is where a wonderful bit of synchronicity has kicked in. I have really been enjoying the show’s theme song, Container, but only took note of who recorded it last week. It was Fiona Apple, an American singer-songwriter who was new to me, as I seem to to be firmly stuck in the last millennium when it comes to such things.

How good is that? Fiona also wrote the song and in the first line she is ‘screaming into the canyon’. Over the last week I have spent much of my time revisiting the music that poured forth from the artists who lived in California’s Laurel Canyon in the late ’60s and as well as the documentary written about last time, I’ve also watched Echo In The Canyon fronted by Jakob Dylan, son of Bob.

He looks and sounds uncannily like his dad at times during the film, where he and a selection of other musicians cleverly intersperse candid interviews with performances of some of the most memorable songs from the era. One of these guest musicians was my new discovery, Fiona Apple. I was bowled over when they got up on stage to sing the Brian Wilson song In My Room. Short, but oh so beautiful.

In My Room by Fiona Apple and Jakob Dylan:

Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys had been a Laurel Canyon resident in the late ’60s and despite starting out writing songs that represented the youth culture of southern California (basically surfin’, surfin’ and more surfin’) it soon became obvious that Brian was a bit of a musical genius, the like of whom doesn’t come along very often. Their album Pet Sounds, written and produced by Brian, was released in 1966 and is often cited as having inspired the Beatles to make Sgt. Pepper.

Apparently Brian had been an agoraphobic during his teens and had refused to leave his bedroom for some time. The song was written from the perspective of a teenager who felt safe and comfortable there. I’m pretty sure DD doesn’t have agoraphobia, but the amount of time she has been spending in her old school bedroom since returning home is concerning me. She is studying, and possibly doesn’t want to interfere with our routines, but as for many other young people who may not have work right now and can no longer be with friends, it just doesn’t feel very healthy at all. Maybe why I’ve been affected by the song so much.

Although it’s the Fiona Apple/Jakob Dylan version that I’ve fallen in love with this week, I can’t go without sharing the original by the Beach Boys themselves. Lots of screaming from the girls in the audience, but I think we still get the sense of it (and a lovely boyish smile from Brian at 0:35).

So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – I may have over-egged the pudding about how much television I’m watching, but with many other leisure-time activities still unavailable to us, it has become a bit of a saviour. I’m trying to avoid watching rolling news channels nowadays and instead am finding escapism in quality dramas and documentaries – Why so many people flocked to the cinema during the war to watch Hollywood musicals I suppose.

As for DD, she is currently ‘in her room’, but hopefully she’ll join us to watch Gogglebox later on, which always raises a smile. The world in 2020 – We work from home on laptops, socialise via Zoom, and sit in our living rooms watching television programs about other people sitting in their living rooms watching television programs. Like a wacky hall of mirrors, it really doesn’t sound healthy at all does it?

Until next time….

In My Room Lyrics
(Song by Brian Wilson)

There’s a world where I can go and tell my secrets to
In my room, in my room
In this world I lock out all my worries and my fears
In my room, in my room

Do my dreaming and my scheming
Lie awake and pray
Do my crying and my sighing
Laugh at yesterday

Now it’s dark and I’m alone
But I won’t be afraid
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room
In my room, in my room

California Dreamin’: Laurel Canyon, A Special Place In Time

Like many others I’ve not had a holiday this year, but I did spend much of last week in Laurel Canyon, that hotbed of creativity that became the epicentre of the late ’60s folk rock scene. First of all I watched the two-part series Laurel Canyon, A Place In Time and then I revisited Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, where much of the action takes place in the same location, at the same point in time. (Both can be found on Amazon Prime.)

I’ve watched many documentaries over the years about the music and lifestyles of those who resided in Laurel Canyon, but this was a particularly good one, as the only two ‘talking heads’ were photographers from those days (Henry Diltz and Nurit Wilde) who shared many of their candid shots. We saw Joni Mitchell looking all loved up with Graham Nash, Peter Tork larking around in Frank Zappa’s back garden, Jim Morrison on his bicycle and David Crosby hanging out with future sidekick Stephen Stills.

During my first year of blogging, as some regulars might remember, I kept returning to the year 1967, as for some reason there is a special place in my heart for the music from that era. Perhaps it’s because I was just a little too young to remember it from first time around, so still have many new discoveries to make, or maybe I’m just a bit of a hippie at heart and if I could hire an honest-to-goodness time machine for a day, I think I would head back to Laurel Canyon. In the early ’60s the music industry was still very much centred in New York, but by 1967 many Greenwich Village folk artists were moving west to California and setting up home in the houses and cabins which littered the hillsides of the West Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Doors were left unlocked, residents hung out and partied, but best of all, they made great music.

Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills, a district of Los Angeles

As for choosing a featured song for this post, there are literally too many to choose from. I took notes whilst watching the first episode of the documentary and they stretched to six pages. The names of some of the people who lived in Laurel Canyon in the late ’60s are as follows:

The Byrds, ‘Crosby, Stills and Nash’, Love, Joni Mitchell, Brian Wilson, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Buffalo Springfield, Jim Morrison, Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, Peter Tork, Mickey Dolenz and The Mamas & the Papas.

Considering Mama Cass used to have an open house policy, and seems to have been one of the main figures of Canyon life, maybe this song would be a good choice. It was written when the Mamas & the Papas were still based in cold and wet New York, but were contemplating a move to California, which just like many others before them is exactly what they did.

All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey.
I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day.
I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.;
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.

California Dreamin’ by the Mamas & the Papas:

But of course all good things come to an end and that’s kind of what happened to this free-loving, drug-fuelled community a few years later. Doors could no longer be left open after The Manson Family killings, and a couple of the key players died way before their time (Jim Morrison and Mama Cass). As we headed into the 1970s bands like the Eagles entered the frame, and the music became more about making money, which was a new direction for Canyon residents. One by one they started to head down to more salubrious residences in more upmarket districts such as Beverley Hills.

The film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is set in 1969, and is a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age. The main character is Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), a star who fears his career is fading, and his stunt double Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt) who now acts as his gofer. As ever with Tarantino, the plot follows multiple storylines all coming together at the end. Rick’s house on Cielo Drive is right next to the one rented by Sharon Tate (a Manson Family victim) and her husband Roman Polanski. I won’t spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, but suffice to say it was vintage Tarantino. Cielo Drive is not in Laurel Canyon but a bit further west, however it’s still located in the Hollywood Hills. With winter now approaching here in Scotland, I know where I’d rather be (without the murders of course).

I’ve long known about the community who took up residence in these hills, just a stone’s throw from downtown Los Angeles, but I never took the time to work out where on the map Laurel Canyon is actually located. Now I’ve got that sorted it’s time to revisit the good times, before it started to go wrong, and enjoy the music that was inspired by the place.

There was a lovely story in the documentary about how the song Our House by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young came about. Graham Nash and Joni Mitchell, both young and in love, had gone down into Los Angeles for some breakfast. On the way they’d stopped at an antique shop where Joni bought a simple, blue vase. When they got home, Graham suggested she stroll through the woods to pick flowers for the vase. Rather than build the fire he had promised, he sat down at her piano and began writing a song about their shared domestic bliss: “I’ll light the fire, you put the flowers in the vase that you bought today”. I’m an old romantic so really loved that story but find it hard to believe that by the time the song was released, they were no longer a couple. Makes me sad.

This one by Buffalo Springfield always sends shivers down my spine, and it has appeared in many a Vietnam War film. Although often considered an anti-war song, Stephen Stills was inspired to write it because of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in November 1966, a series of early counterculture-era clashes that took place between police and young people.

Of course we can’t forget about Joni Mitchell, that Lady of the Canyon.

Finally, something from Jim Morrison and The Doors, one of the most iconic and influential frontmen in rock history, who sadly died at the age of 27 in 1971. Jim was a true bohemian and poet who struggled to cope with his fame. Perhaps his brooding good looks were a hindrance to him, but he remains on many a deep-thinker’s bedroom wall to this day.

Until next time….

California Dreamin’ Lyrics
(Song by John Phillips/Michelle Phillips)

All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey.
I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day.
I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A.;
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.

Stopped in to a church I passed along the way.
Well I got down on my knees and I pretend to pray.
You know the preacher liked the cold;
He knows I’m gonna stay.
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.

All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray.
I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day.
If I didn’t tell her I could leave today;
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.
California dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.

Balm For The Soul #1 – George Michael, ‘Heal The Pain’ and ‘Desafinado’

It’s been a while since I posted anything new around here, but life has suddenly got quite busy for me, what with my college course, our business, and delivering guest posts (I’m over at Rol’s place this week), so finding it tough to set aside some time for the blog. I will now attempt to right that wrong.

It’s exactly six months since we first went into lockdown here in the UK, and as of today the rules have really tightened up again (especially in Scotland) with a whole raft of new restrictions kicking in, so almost back to where we started. I think most of us are now accepting the old normal has gone for the foreseeable, so maybe it’s time to throw in the towel and adapt to this post-pandemic world – There’s still a lot of great stuff out there to enjoy, and whether we simply stumble upon it, or actively seek it out, it can provide a balm for the soul.

I myself stumbled upon something last weekend that led me to think of that phrase, as it just seemed so apt. On Saturday night I caught Mr WIAA perusing the library of recordings on the machine attached to the telly, as we seem to be all caught up at the moment with our ‘boxsets’. I returned later to find him revisiting the George Michael documentary Freedom, which was released nine months after his death. Ironically, back in 2017, it premiered on our screens the same night as my 25th Wedding Anniversary, so I very unromantically spent the evening watching George as opposed to being all loved up with Mr WIAA. Much to his credit he didn’t even mind, as he knew I was (and still am) a big fan, which perhaps goes a long way to explaining how we made it to that landmark number, and now beyond.

I wrote about the documentary back in 2017 in my final Open Letter to George when I think I was still grieving for him, but three years on I could watch it again with less sadness, from the perspective of someone who has accepted he is gone, but is still so grateful we have his wonderful back catalogue of songs. The doc is peppered first of all with the Wham! hits, and then the solo stuff, progressing from the Faith album right through to Symphonica. As happened last time, I homed in on a couple of the songs featured, and they have stayed with me all week. One is Heal The Pain and the other Desafinado (with Astrud Gilberto).

Heal The Pain by George Michael:

How beautiful is that? Oh yes George, from beyond the grave you are healing my pain with your song. I accept the situation the world has found itself in and I accept you have gone – Your music is indeed a balm for the soul. Something I hadn’t realised until now is that this song came about as an homage to Paul McCartney in whose style the song was written. In 2005 George got the chance to record a version with Paul, and it ended up being included on his greatest hits collection Twenty Five. Heal The Pain was the was the fourth of five singles taken from the album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 entering the UK Singles Chart in February 1991 and peaking at number 31. It followed a pattern of reaching a slightly lower spot than its predecessor (the previous three singles having peaked at numbers 6, 23 and 28 respectively) which I now find quite unbelievable, considering the quality of the song.

Something else I find quite unbelievable is that until this week I didn’t actually own a hard copy of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 (there never was a Vol. 2 but that’s a whole other story), so when in town on Monday I swung by our local HMV which thankfully still seems to be trading. I was very tempted by a lovely looking vinyl copy sitting on one of the long display shelves at the entrance, but I dithered, and tussled with my conscience, as it was expensive and I don’t even have a half-decent turntable at the moment. On the other hand the CD shelves were awash with his albums, so in one fell swoop, for the grand sum of £15, I filled the gaps in my Wham!/George Michael collection of music. I’ve not even played them yet, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to have something tangible as opposed to digital, which although highly practical and portable, just doesn’t always hit the spot.

Before I go I want to share the other song that’s stayed with me since rewatching the doc last weekend. During these troubled times, what could be better than a bit of bossa nova, combined with the dulcet tones of George Michael & Astrud Gilberto (The Girl from Ipanema). It seems Desafinado has been recorded by at least 65 people since 1959 and is translated into English as ‘Out of Tune’ or ‘Off Key’, originally written as a response to critics who claimed bossa nova was a new genre for singers who couldn’t sing. Well this pair certainly can sing, and listening to the 1996 recording feels like being wrapped in a large, fluffy, comfort blanket. Yet another balm for the soul.

Desafinado by George Michael (with Astrud Gilberto):

So, “What’s It All About?” – Not sure if I can keep up the positivity around here long-term but it seems being just that little bit too busy is also good for the soul, as it leaves little time for doomsurfing/doomscrolling, which I’ve spent far too much time doing of late.

As for my apparent fan worship of George Michael, it’s really not like that at all. In fact it wasn’t until he died on Christmas Day 2016 that I realised he had been there by my side for the entire journey that was my adult life. In a non-interfering, almost unnoticed way, he had provided one of its soundtracks and was there at a few of the most pivotal points, including the birth of DD (but not literally). Like many others I will probably continue to make new George Michael discography discoveries, and will thank the universe for having allowed this kind, sensitive, genius of a man, into our lives.

Until next time….

Heal The Pain Lyrics
(Song by George Michael)

Let me tell you a secret
Put it in your heart and then keep it
Something that I want you to know
Do something for me
Listen to my simple story
And maybe we’ll have something to show

You tell me you’re cold on the inside
How can the outside world
Be a place that your heart can embrace
Be good to yourself
Because nobody else
Has the power to make you happy

How can I help you
Please let me try to
I can heal the pain
That you’re feeling inside
Whenever you want me
You know that I will be
Waiting for the day
That you say you’ll be mine

He must have really hurt you
To make you say the things that you do
He must have really hurt you
To make those pretty eyes look so blue

He must have known
That he could
That you’d never leave him
Now you can’t see my love is good
And that I’m not him

How can I help you
Please let me try to
I can heal the pain
Won’t you let me inside
Whenever you want me
You know that I will be
Waiting for the day
That you say you’ll be mine

Won’t you let me in
Let this love begin
Won’t you show me your heart now
I’ll be good to you
I can make this thing true
Show me that heart right now

Who needs a lover
That can’t be a friend
Something tells me I’m the one you’ve been looking for
If you ever should see him again
Won’t you tell him you’ve found someone who gives you more

Someone who will protect you
Love and respect you
All those things
That he never could bring to you
Like I do
Or rather I would
Won’t you show me your heart
Like you should

Freshers Week, Student Life 2020 and The Long Journey From ‘Grease’ to ‘GREECE’

I seem to have lost my blogging mojo at the moment which is a bit of a worry as I am due to return to college on Monday and a fair amount of writing is required for the course I’m enrolled on. Hopefully all will go well, but of course this time there will be no meeting up with fellow students, no hours spent in the library and no visits to the support team, who can very impressively advise on a myriad of issues relevant to the student body (especially mature students like myself who don’t find the technology quite as easy to navigate).

Like for many other colleges and universities this semester all of our lectures and tutorials will be online, so not the experience it should be at all, and for students entering higher education for the first time it must be a real disappointment. There is no denying many youngsters head to ‘Uni’ nowadays more for the social life than the actual academia, but that seems to have gone online as well. It’s over 40 years since I first experienced a Freshers Week but I still remember it fondly – Not sure if an online Freshers Week will go down in memory in quite the same way.

This year has certainly not turned out the way any of us expected it to, and you know what, I really don’t think we’re going to get back to anything resembling the old normal, ever. The upside is that much of the old normal was not good for us, so we’re happy to say goodbye to it (air pollution, long commutes now replaced by effective working from home) but the stuff that was good for us has also gone (joyous mass gatherings, planned trips, being able to hug our friends), and that’s what I miss most. For young people, nearly everything that made their lives worth living has been made more difficult or complicated and it can’t be lost on them that they are the ones who have been disproportionately affected by the crisis. Although not the wisest thing to do at the moment, can you blame them for wanting to hold illicit parties and gatherings. A euphemism used on breakfast news this morning was “intimate socialising” when discussing student Freshers Week. None of that hanky panky allowed this year I’m afraid!

Whenever I compare eras like this, I also like to compare the music of the day, and back in 1978 when I left home to embark on student life for the first time, the music charts were very different to the ones of today. For a start we had far less exposure to new music and only really had Radio One at our disposal. If one of your favourites was allocated a slot on that week’s TOTP, record sales were bound to rise exponentially selling a volume of “units” unheard of nowadays. Now and again the songs from popular films would make their way into the charts, and in the autumn of 1978 that’s exactly what happened after John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John sashayed their way across the big screen in that summer’s bit hit musical Grease. Oh yes, the week I started University, the song at the No. 1 spot was Summer Nights, at No. 5 was the title track Grease by Frankie Valli and at No. 9 was Sandy sung by broken-hearted T-Bird Danny Zuko.

Grease by Frankie Valli:

Looking at today’s chart, it paints a very different picture. Eight of the Top Ten songs is a collaboration, and I only recognise a couple of names in there. By some strange coincidence there is a song called GREECE (different kind from the one of 1978) by DJ Khaled (feat. Drake) but what comes across loud and clear from the video is that whatever the era, young people like to get together in mass gatherings, listen to music, and dance with each other. Not really been possible this summer at all.

So, ‘What’s It All About?’ – I will hopefully return to more entertaining blog posts soon, but by the time I tussle with the MyDay, Webex, Brightspace, MyStudentMail and MyStudentHub sites just added to my homepage, my brain might be addled. Let’s hope not.

As for the Freshers of 2020, to anyone who has been a student themselves, especially back in the days of generous maintenance grants and zero tuition fees, let’s spare a thought for them and what they are missing out on. Many youngsters we know are not even leaving home, so will be starting the new academic year in their school bedroom. Not quite the rite of passage it ought to be, but student life as we knew it has just become yet another casualty of 2020.

Until next time….

Grease Lyrics
(Song by Barry Gibb)

I solve my problems and I see the light
We got a lovin’ thing, we gotta feed it right
There ain’t no danger we can go too far
We start believing now that we can be who we are
Grease is the word

They think our love is just a growing pain
Why don’t they understand, it’s just a crying shame
Their lips are lying, only real is real
We stop the fight right now, we got to be what we feel
Grease is the word

(Grease is the word, is the word that you heard)
It’s got a groove, it’s got a meaning
Grease is the time, is the place, is the motion
Grease is the way we are feeling

GREECE Lyrics
(Song by Aubrey Graham/Calvin Tarvin/Elijah Maynard/Khaled Khaled/Ozan Yildirim/Peter Eddins)

Come with me, leave all of your things, yeah
We can stop at Gucci, stop at Louis V, yeah
Come with me, fly you out to Greece
Full speed, survoler Paris, yeah

Speedboats, baby, in Nikki Beach
Waves in my ears, smokin’ weed (Oui, oui)
Whippin’ through the sand in a Jeep (Oui, oui)
All because of what I did on beats, baby
Life’s sweet, baby, iced out, baby
You just go get ready, we go out, baby
Long time lookin’ for the bounce, yeah
OZ had the bounce, yeah

The Beat, ‘Mirror In The Bathroom’ and Another Shower Room Update

Regulars around here might remember that many months ago I shared a picture of our little shower room which was about to be upgraded and transformed by my plumber friend. Ironically, on the 23rd March, just as the old plumbing was fully stripped out, we were plunged into lockdown. Nothing else for it we thought except to tidy everything up and wait the three weeks or so until we could get the job finished.

Except the three weeks became twelve weeks, and even then it wasn’t easy what with social distancing and mask-wearing. I really wasn’t even supposed to offer the plumber tea or coffee, but I’m afraid I broke that rule, and we’ve lived to tell the tale. Anyway, after a bit of dithering about what floor covering to put down and which accessories to go for, we have finally got the job finished, only five months after we started. The louvery doors (as Del-Boy Trotter used to call them) will have to go at some point but in the meantime we’re just glad it’s now fully funtional.

The final piece in the jigsaw was the mirror, and in the end I had to go for a boring old rectangular one, as the one that matched the set was out of stock – Having waited all that time, I just couldn’t wait any longer. When shopping for bathroom mirrors, this song naturally came to mind.

Mirror in the Bathroom by the Beat:

Mirror in the Bathroom by the Beat reached the No. 4 spot in the UK Singles Chart in 1980, just as the ska revival was really taking hold. Although signed to 2 Tone Records my memories of the band are a little sketchy and they were not part of the tour (written about here) which took place that year. They were however one of the most prolific ska bands of the time and between 1979 and 1983 had five Top Ten hits, two of which were successful covers, Tears of a Clown and Can’t Get Used to Losing You.

As for Mirror in the Bathroom, it apparently came about when Dave Wakeling, the songwriter, was in the bathroom one morning shaving. He started to talk to himself whilst looking in the mirror, and it got him to thinking about how self-involvement turns into narcissism, narcissism turns into isolation, and then isolation turns into self-involvement again forming a vicious circle (he was a deep-thinking chap). To quote: “So then I just started thinking about different situations where people would ostensibly look like they were doing something, but in fact they were checking their own reflection out. And you’d see it perhaps on Saturday afternoon with people window shopping, half the time they’re actually just looking at their own reflection. Then this restaurant opened, and it was a big deal at the time because it had glass tables, and I was like, oh, you can watch yourself.”

As for me, any opportunity not to catch my own reflection in a shop window is a bonus nowadays. In our heads we think we are still 21, so a pleasant shopping trip can be ruined when the harsh reality hits home, no matter how good we thought we looked when we left the house.

I was saddened to hear that band member Ranking Roger had passed away last year aged only 56. Roger officially joined the Beat as a teenager in the late ’70s after having appeared on stage with them many times, toasting and singing. His energetic style and Jamaican-influenced vocals, paired with Dave Wakeling, were crucial in distinguishing the Beat from other ska bands.

So, “What’s It All About?” – I seem to have been particularly productive around here this week but all because we have a new editor around here at WordPress and I wanted to get to grips with it. The verdict is…. , so far so good. I’d been putting off moving across for some time, but as I now have no other option it was time to bite the bullet, and not as scary as I had suspected. This blog will live to fight another day.

Until next time….

Mirror In The Bathroom Lyrics
(Song by Dave Wakeling)

Mirror in the bathroom
Please talk free
The door is locked
Just you and me.

Can I take you to a restaurant
That’s got glass tables
You can watch yourself
While you are eating.

Mirror in the bathroom
I just can’t stop it,
Every Saturday you see me
Window shopping.

Find no interest
In the racks and shelves
Just ten thousand reflections
Of my own sweet self, self, self…

Mirror in the bathroom
You’re my mirror in the bathroom
You’re my mirror in the bathroom
You’re my mirror in the bathroom…

Mirror in the bathroom
Recompense
For all my crimes
Of self defense.

Cures you whisper
Make no sense
Drift gently into
Mental illness.

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